


Once Upon a Loud

by studioLOUD



Series: The Loud House (One Shots) [1]
Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 21:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20442893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/studioLOUD/pseuds/studioLOUD
Summary: An endearing short story about Lincoln spending some quality time with Lola.





	Once Upon a Loud

**A/N: Nickelodeon and Chris Savino own The Loud House and related characters. No copyright infringement intended. This story is merely a work of fiction and written under the fair use policy.**

Lincoln Loud was always busy. The eleven-year-old seldom got time to himself. Tonight was different, though. The rest of the Loud's were attending one of Luna's concerts. All except Lola, his six-year-old sister, who refused to go based on the idea that it wasn't classy.

Now, Lola was obsessed with beauty and pageants. She was also quite manipulative when she wanted something. Being the only other person in the house who could provide for her, Lincoln assumed Lola would rope him into servitude.

The family had only recently left, leaving them by themselves, with Lincoln in charge. He'd been left in charge before, so he had experience. Lincoln figured if he let her do whatever she wanted that Lola would stay out of his hair for a while. He even had a few surprises planned!

"Okay, Lola," Lincoln asked as he secured the front door. " What would you like to do first?"

"May I watch television?" she implored.

"I don't know, Lola," her brother replied. "Don't you have homework to do?"

"Come on, Linc," she said, folding her arms. "Please?"

Lincoln sighed, then ruffled her hair. "Sure, why not? What show do you want to see?"

Lola grabbed the remote from atop the set and began flipping through the channels. "Don't worry about it, Linc," she said dismissively. "Just the Little Miss Michigan pageant. You wouldn't be interested."

"Hey!" exclaimed Lincoln. "Have you forgotten about all the times I've helped you win? Why wouldn't I be interested? It'll give me ideas for when you compete for it."

"Fine, whatever," mumbled the little princess.

For the next two hours, the pair sat there watching the contestants parade across the screen, showing off their talents. Lola was completely entranced. Lincoln, on the other hand, was taking notes. Indeed, there were a lot of things Lola needed to improve on.

As the show was concluding, Lola felt a familiar rumble. "Lincoln!" she announced, demandingly. "I'm hungry!"

"Okay, Lola," he responded. "I'll go grab some pudding."

"No way! I want chicken nuggets tonight," instructed Lola.

"Come on, Lola," replied Lincoln. "You know I'm not supposed to cook alone."

"But, I want them!" whined Lincoln's little sister, making puppy dog eyes.

Lincoln considered her for a moment. Usually, Lola would be issuing direct orders and threatening people to get her way. Tonight there seemed something off about her.

"Of course. Would you like some fries too?" asked Lola's white-haired babysitter.

It took a moment for Lola to register his question, but she eventually lit up like a Roman candle. "Oh! Yes, please!" she said excitedly. "That would be great!"

Lincoln made his way to the kitchen and began preparing her meal. After dumping some nuggets and fries onto a baking sheet, he placed the tray in the oven and set it to three-hundred-fifty degrees. He then set his father's cooking timer to thirty minutes.

"That should do it," he thought to himself. "Now, I wonder what else Lola is going to have me do tonight. Hopefully, I'll get some time to myself."

Lola had been watching him from around the corner and was intrigued. She never really spent too much time with any of her siblings alone. Except for Lana, but that was different.

Typically, she had to bribe them before they'd even look at her. Despite not having done a thing, Lincoln was seemingly eager to spend real time together.

"What's his game?" she mused to herself. "He couldn't possibly LIKE catering to me."

"Hey, Lola!" Lincoln called, expecting her to be in the living room.

The small princess walked into the kitchen, surprising her brother. "How long until it's ready?" she asked politely.

"Now, that's a change," Lincoln thought before answering her. "In about thirty minutes."

"Oh, okay," she said, then sat down at the kitchen table.

Lincoln leaned against the warm stove and studied his sister. Maybe spending time alone with her wasn't going to be so bad after all. That is, as long as she didn't start ordering him around too much.

"Hey, sis," he said enthusiastically. "Why don't you go get your tea set, and we'll have a real tea party right here?"

Lola's eyes lit up and grew as big as saucers. "Did Lincoln ask me if I wanted to have a tea party just now?" thought Lola.

"That's the most brilliant idea ever!" she screeched. "I'll be right back!"

Lincoln watched as Lola left the kitchen in a sprint, nearly knocking over her chair. He then busied himself, preparing some clean glasses, plates, and silverware.

A few moments later, Lola came strolling into the kitchen, her small arms filled with items needed for the place settings.

"These will do nicely," he informed Lola, taking the items.

The boy doled out two settings, then folded some cloth napkins, securing them with plastic rings, and placed them on top of the plates.

Next, he took a baguette from the bag in the breadbox and broke it into pieces, placing them in a bowl upon the table.

Finally, he obtained a glass pitcher from one of the cabinets and poured some tea into it.

Lola sighed happily, grasping her hands in front of her. "This looks wonderful, Lincoln!"

Just then, the timer went off. The young chef donned the oven mitts and removed the tray, placing it on top of the oven. He then turned to Lola, and with a bow, announced dinner.

"Dinner is ready, madam," he said in as dignified a manner as he could.

Lola smiled at her brother, blushing heavily. Nobody in the family had ever done anything like this for her before. She could hardly contain her excitement.

Lincoln served Lola's portions first and poured her tea before doing so for himself. As he sat down, he noticed that Lola had changed clothes. She was now wearing a white costume ball gown with pink trim, a faux pearl necklace, and white, lacy gloves.

The young man was having a great time, much to his surprise. Possibly, it was because there was nobody around to tease him or pass judgment. Maybe it was because he secretly liked spending time with Lola. Either way, the evening was a delight so far.

"Might I say, madam, that you look quite lovely tonight," flattered Lincoln.

Lola nearly spat out her first bite of chicken nugget when she heard Lincoln's remark. She managed to keep her composure; despite how difficult Lincoln was making it.

"And might I say, Linc," she said in character, "that you have been a most gracious host."

The pair began eating in earnest, talking about their siblings, and remembering fun times they had together until nothing remained of the meal.

"Well," announced Lincoln. "It's getting late. Perhaps you should go take a bath and get ready for bed while I clean up here."

"Do I have to?" Lola pleaded. "I've had such a wonderful time that I don't want it to stop."

"Don't worry, sis," her brother told her, "The night isn't over yet. Now, go on."

Lola smiled broadly and left the room, heading upstairs to take a bath. She closed the door and carefully hung up her clothes. As good as the evening was, if her gown got ruined, she'd be devastated. Lola turned on the water and slowly lowered herself into the warm liquid as it filled the tub. Once she got settled, she poured a bit of bubble-bath under the faucet.

"Ah, this is nice," she said while turning off the water and sinking into the bubbles. Her thoughts then turned to Lincoln and wondered why his demeanor had changed. She also recalled his last words. The night wasn't over. What could he possibly have planned next?

Lola finished her bath and drained the tub. Wrapping herself in a towel, she then headed off to her room, where she dried herself off and put on a pink nightgown. As she pulled it over her head, there was a knock on her door.

"One moment!" she called out. Lola quickly finished dressing for bed and hung her gown up. "Okay, you may come in now," she announced.

Lincoln walked into the room, sat on her bed, and patted the spot beside him. "How about you pick out a bedtime story?" he inquired.

Lola gasped and nearly lost control of her knees. "I can't believe it, Lincoln. You've spent the entire night with me and never once asked to be alone. You watched television with me, fixed me a wonderful dinner, and now, you want to read me a bedtime story? It's like a dream come true!"

Lincoln chuckled. "To be honest," he explained, "I did kind of want some time alone, but I also don't get much time with you. I thought it'd be nice, and I was right. I enjoyed the evening together. Now, how about that story?"

Lola climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over herself. "I've heard all the ones that I have. How about making one up instead?"

"Very well," responded Lincoln as he laid down beside his sister. "Once upon a time, in a town named Royal Woods, there lived a beautiful princess. She knew, one day, she would be a queen. However, she still had some things to learn and ordered people around all the time. One day, the king hired a new attendant for his daughter. This boy was to care for the princess, night and day. The princess began making demands of her attendant, just as she had before. The young man refused, which made the princess angry. Over the next few weeks, whenever the princess ordered him around, he would refuse. She did not understand but became more agreeable with him over time. Slowly, she began to realize that only when she was polite did she get a positive response. One day, the princess asked the young man why he would risk execution by denying her. He informed her that he loved her and wanted everybody else to love her too. The end."

As Lincoln finished his story, he looked over at Lola, who was silently weeping.

"That was about me, wasn't it?" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I'll try to be kinder. I promise. Especially to you, Lincoln. Thank you for tonight."

Lola leaped from under her covers, wrapped her arms around Lincoln's neck, and hugged him tightly.

After a moment or two, she pulled away and cleared her eyes, smiling at her brother. "Goodnight, Lincoln," she whispered.

"Goodnight, princess," he whispered back before kissing her on the cheek.

He rose and made his way to her door, looking back briefly and smiled to himself before disappearing down the hall.


End file.
